mh - politicshttp://matt.immute.net/taxonomy/term/2/0
enMy country, tis of thee...http://matt.immute.net/content/my-country-tis-thee
<p><a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/06/wikileaks/index.html">Well said:</a></p>
<blockquote><p>This is all grounded in the toxic mindset expressed yesterday on Meet the Press (without challenge, naturally) by GOP Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said of Assange: "I think the man is a high-tech terrorist. He’s done an enormous damage to our country, and I think he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And if that becomes a problem, we need to change the law." As usual, when wielded by American authorities, the term "terrorist" means nothing more than: "those who impede or defy the will of the U.S. Government with any degree of efficacy." Anyone who does that is, by definition, a Terrorist. And note McConnell's typical, highly representative view that if someone he wants to punish isn't a criminal under the law, then you just "change the law" to make him one.</p></blockquote>
<p>Not to suggest in any way that this behavior is limited to Republicans. Finally, a broadly bipartisan initiative...</p>
http://matt.immute.net/content/my-country-tis-thee#commentspoliticsTue, 07 Dec 2010 10:48:24 -0600matt45 at http://matt.immute.netCommunity organizing is not a jokehttp://matt.immute.net/content/community-organizing-not-joke
<p>Ok, so I didn't find much to admire in the RNC last night, but one thing really stood out. Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin both cracked jokes about community organizing. Jokes. Man, that really pissed me off.</p>
<p>In making fun of urban community activism, the GOP says two things: first, that the problems of urban America are small problems, not worth much and not worth addressing. And second, that the only politics that matters is Washington politics, the only power that matters is Washington power. The first message is wrong, but I guess we're all accustomed to small-town-values rhetoric in Presidential campaigns, and I guess it won't change soon. The second message, however, is preposterous, and doubly rich coming from a "maverick" campaign which constantly accuses Democrats of out-of-touch elitism. Now what could be more elitist than this?</p>
<p>I hope every person who's ever been involved in trying to make their neighborhood a better place, who's ever volunteered for a local charity or helped out a local school, who's ever hung up a sign or had a conversation about a local election... I hope all these people heard those comments, and heard the fine rich people of the GOP laughing at them, long and loud.</p>
<p>At least I'm not alone:<br />
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http://matt.immute.net/content/community-organizing-not-joke#commentspoliticsThu, 04 Sep 2008 11:43:55 -0500matt37 at http://matt.immute.netSame-sex marriage and sex discriminationhttp://matt.immute.net/content/same-sex-marriage-and-sex-discrimination
<p>I find <a href="http://balkin.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-sex-discrimination-argument-failed.html">this argument</a> pretty interesting. I'm ashamed to admit that I never thought about this before:</p>
<blockquote><p>I don’t understand the resistance to the idea that the homosexuality taboo is about sexism. Homosexuality and deviation from gender norms (which, of course, are relentlessly hierarchical) are so tightly connected with each other in popular culture that each is normally and easily taken as a marker for the other. A "faggot" or a "dyke" is a person who fails to conform to normal gender norms; the term is routinely applied to people without regard to their sexual behavior.</p></blockquote>
<p>I don't find the argument completely convincing (and I don't find the hypothetical about "miscegenosexual couples" as preposterous as I'm apparently meant to), but it's clearly an important aspect of this form of discrimination that deserves to be more widely recognized and addressed.<br />
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http://matt.immute.net/content/same-sex-marriage-and-sex-discrimination#commentsculturepoliticsSun, 25 May 2008 23:46:18 -0500matt35 at http://matt.immute.netAgainst torturehttp://matt.immute.net/content/against-torture
<p>If you're a US resident, <a href="http://www.rejecttorture.org/">join up</a> (<a href="http://www.harpers.org/subjects/NoComment#hbc-90002973">more here</a>). In case you aren't yet thoroughly enraged and disgusted, see <a href="http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/05/they-torture-children-dont-they.html">here</a> and <em>then</em> join up. What we really ought to demand is an accounting, but at a minimum we should have a commitment. <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=big%20trouble%20in%20little%20china">SON OF A BITCH MUST PAY</a>.</p>
http://matt.immute.net/content/against-torture#commentsculturepoliticsFri, 23 May 2008 15:53:16 -0500matt34 at http://matt.immute.netAnd morehttp://matt.immute.net/content/and-more
<p>And more, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/Story?id=4583256&amp;page=3">now from ABC</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>
Then-Attorney General Ashcroft was troubled by the discussions. He agreed with the general policy decision to allow aggressive tactics and had repeatedly advised that they were legal. But he argued that senior White House advisers should not be involved in the grim details of interrogations, sources said.</p>
<p>According to a top official, Ashcroft asked aloud after one meeting: "Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly."
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http://matt.immute.net/content/and-more#commentspoliticsWed, 09 Apr 2008 22:34:05 -0500matt29 at http://matt.immute.netDepressinghttp://matt.immute.net/content/depressing
<p>This <a href="http://balkin.blogspot.com/2008/04/war-crimes-prosecutions-in-us-dream-on.html">post from Jack Balkin</a> about the (lack of) possibility of war crimes prosecution makes me really sad and frustrated. More accountability for current officials is <em>precisely the thing I want most</em> from the new administration. Congress hasn't delivered. The new President won't deliver. It's disgusting and shameful. What are we supposed to do?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/search?num=20&amp;hl=en&amp;safe=off&amp;q=%22we%27ve+got+to+have+convictions%22&amp;btnG=Search">"...how can we explain letting them get off? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions."</a><br />
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http://matt.immute.net/content/depressing#commentsculturepoliticsWed, 09 Apr 2008 21:42:28 -0500matt28 at http://matt.immute.net